Have A Heart

Wanting to avoid last September’s nightmarish experience with a possum who found his way into our furnace and died, my wife and I decided to take steps to prevent such a thing. Yesterday evening, I got my large Have-A-Hart trap from the barn, baited it with marshmallows, and placed it in the cellar.

This morning when I let the dogs out, it occurred to me to check the trap, so I went to the cellar and flicked on the light. A young possum, about the size of a kitten, was staring back at me from inside the Have-A-Hart. I waited until I let the dogs back into the house, then went down-cellar and took my new friend up into the morning. When it was time to leave for work, I placed a plastic trash bag onto the seat, loaded the trap into the vehicle, and hauled him down the road a piece, where I released him. The possum scampered across the road and down into a pasture. As usual, I whispered, “You owe me.” After a moment, I added, “And tell your kinfolk to stay clear of my house.” I thought of Sean G’s recent comment about his fondness for catch & release fishing.

On the drive to work, I kept thinking about the possum and what he might have been thinking during the night between the time when the trap sprang shut and the time when I turned on the light this morning. I imagined what it would be like to find a grocery store or an apartment where I felt particularly content, and then to have a hidden door slam shut and imprison me. What would it be like to sit in the dark, trying to work through the pickle in which I found myself, and anticipating whether I would die there in the dark, or if I would be rescued, and what would happen to me if and when I were rescued. Grim thoughts, indeed. One could get all theological up in here.

I hope the young possum thrives and that his tribe increases. As long as they stay away from our house. I did, after all, attempt to extract a promise from him.

~ S.K. Orr